Ivory Coast: Shooting spreads to Abidjan

The mutiny by soldiers in Ivory Coast demanding wage increases and bonuses has spread to Abidjan, the commercial capital.. The shooting started in the second largest city of Boauke and Korhogo this morning, “Shooting has started in our camp too now,” said a soldier at the military base in the city, known as “old Akouedo”, which is located in a residential section of the city of nearly 5 million inhabitants.
Heavy gunfire was heard overnight and early on Saturday near military camps in two cities in Ivory Coast, where disgruntled soldiers launched revolts a day earlier over salaries and bonuses, residents and a soldier said. Shooting began at around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT) in Bouake. Residents also reported hearing shooting throughout the night at an army base in the northern city of Korhogo. “The shooting is very heavy right now at the 3rd Battalion. I’m nearby and I hear it like it was right next to us,” Bouake resident Konan Benoit told Reuters by telephone as gunfire could be heard on the line. Zie Silue, who lives in Korhogo, said the gunfire there had stopped by the early morning. “It’s calm now, but residents are being careful. There’s practically no traffic. Shops are closed,” he said